Archive for June, 2012

Do taildragger pilots have more fun? Well, yes, that’s pretty much a given. So, put together a bunch of tailwheel pilots and you’re in for an especially good time.

Savannah-Hardin County Airport in Savannah, Tenn., hosted this year’s Ladies Love Taildraggers fly-in, held June 1-3, and boy, do these folks know how to throw a party. Airport manager Montille Warren must have been an event planner in another life, because she pulled all the stops for the event: a fuel discount, a huge hangar that served as a dining hall and later a stage for a country band; and a huge Southern-style spread each day. Organizer Judy Birchler (the driving force behind Ladies Love Taildraggers and the proud owner of a bright-yellow Rans) and her crew of volunteers rounded up door prizes, freebies like keychains (and you know how pilots love freebies) and nightly entertainment.

What kind of entertainment? Well, Friday featured a Zumba class and a comedic poem by Kelly Jeffries about the trials and tribulations of building an airplane with her pilot-husband. Saturday was capped with performances by cowboy poet Woody Woodruff and country singer Ash Bowers.

Amazingly, there was no registration fee for the event. Judy and crew took donations–but 100 percent of the money collected was designated for Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that supports the families of service members and wounded warriors. AOPA Regional Manager Bob Minter told the crowd Friday night, “I’ve organized a lot of events, but I’ve never seen one like this one that had no registration fee and is entirely volunteer run.” The group ponied up more than $4,000, I was told.

The Homebuilt/Experimental category was well represented with several RVs, a Sonex, and a few I couldn’t identify. There were some 25 or 30 airplanes on the field for the event, and they came from 23 states. My trek from Maryland was a spin around the pattern compared to the trips by Kelly Jeffries, who brought her RV8 from New Hampshire; Cathy Page, who piloted her RV6 from Arizona; and Anne-Marie LaPointe, who rode a motorcycle from Ontario, Canada.

The variety of taildraggers was mouth-watering. There were some tricycle gear aircraft, too. (I imagine the pilot of a King Air that arrived mid-afternoon Saturday was scratching his head just a bit.) While it was definitely a taildragger-oriented event, Judy purposefully opened it to all lady pilots “and their friends,” so all of us could appreciate them. And I am very glad she did. I’ve been a fan of tailwheel airplanes since getting some stick time in an Aeronca Champ. There’s just no better way to fly low and slow, but if you want to fly far and fast, a tailwheel airplane can do that for you, too. Just ask Kelly and Cathy.